Michael Clarke named Australia Twenty20 captain
December 6th 2007 10:00
Australian batsman Michael Clarke has been named Australia Twenty20 captain for the upcoming Twenty20 international against New Zealand.
The 26 year-old New South Welshman, who is widely tipped to succeed Ricky Ponting as test and one-day captain in the future, leap-frogged Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey to take charge of the squad for the Perth match.
Australian chief selector Andrew Hilditch said the appointment was made "to enhance the leadership skills of Michael Clarke to assure the long history of strong leadership of Australian cricket is continued into the future".
The player nicknamed 'Pup' was delightfully surprised by the appointment having initially feared he had been dropped from the side.
“I was thinking (Hilditch) wants to talk to me and it is always bad news, especially over the phone, so I was thinking ‘gee, I hope I’m not going to be dropped’,” said Clarke. “I was over the moon, I didn’t know what to say.
“I haven’t had any recent experience, so it’s going to be another challenge for me but it's a great opportunity." he added.
Born on April 2, 1981 in Liverpool, NSW, the lower middle order right-handed batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler came of age in 2006-07 - proving that he could marry a mature approach with a lifetime desire to entertain as evident by his 389 Ashes runs at 77.80 in the 5-0 whitewash of England in 2006.
Australian squad: Michael Clarke (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, Brad Hodge, Adam Voges, Ashley Noffke, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait.
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